Learn about reflexive Italian verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Marco: Hello, and welcome to ItalianPOD101.com, the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Italian! |
| Consuelo: I'm Consuelo, and thanks again for being here with us for this Absolute Beginner S2 lesson. |
| Marco: In today's class, we will focus on reflexive verbs. |
| Consuelo: This conversation takes place in a swimming pool. |
| Marco: It's between Melissa and Ilaria. |
| Consuelo: They will be speaking informal Italian. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Ilaria: Nuoti molto bene, complimenti. |
| Melissa: Grazie, ma adesso sono stanchissima. E tu? Ti alleni tutti i giorni? |
| Ilaria: No, no. Vengo in piscina due volte al mese, nuoto, mi distraggo un po'. |
| Melissa: Fai bene. Quando torni in piscina dimmelo che veniamo insieme. Adesso però ho veramente fame. |
| Ilaria: Sei sempre la solita! Dai, adesso ci laviamo poi usciamo e cerchiamo un posto dove mangiare qualcosa. |
| Melissa: Sì, ho proprio bisogno di riprendere le energie! |
| Ilaria: Fuori adesso fa un po' fresco dobbiamo metterci la giacca. |
| Melissa: Vero. Andiamo a fare la doccia adesso. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Ilaria: Nuoti molto bene, complimenti. |
| Melissa: Grazie, ma adesso sono stanchissima. E tu? Ti alleni tutti i giorni? |
| Ilaria: No, no. Vengo in piscina due volte al mese, nuoto, mi distraggo un po'. |
| Melissa: Fai bene. Quando torni in piscina dimmelo che veniamo insieme. Adesso però ho veramente fame. |
| Ilaria: Sei sempre la solita! Dai, adesso ci laviamo poi usciamo e cerchiamo un posto dove mangiare qualcosa. |
| Melissa: Sì, ho proprio bisogno di riprendere le energie! |
| Ilaria: Fuori adesso fa un po' fresco dobbiamo metterci la giacca. |
| Melissa: Vero. Andiamo a fare la doccia adesso. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Ilaria: Nuoti molto bene, complimenti. |
| Marco: You swim very well, well done. |
| Melissa: Grazie, ma adesso sono stanchissima. E tu? Ti alleni tutti i giorni? |
| Marco: Thank you, but now I'm very tired. And you? Do you train every day? |
| Ilaria: No, no. Vengo in piscina due volte al mese, nuoto, mi distraggo un po'. |
| Marco: No. I come to the swimming pool twice a month. I swim and take my mind off things for a while. |
| Melissa: Fai bene. Quando torni in piscina dimmelo che veniamo insieme. Adesso però ho veramente fame. |
| Marco: That's good. When you come back to the swimming pool again, let me know. We can come together. But now I'm really hungry. |
| Ilaria: Sei sempre la solita! Dai, adesso ci laviamo poi usciamo e cerchiamo un posto dove mangiare qualcosa. |
| Marco: You're always the same! Come on, now we wash ourselves and then get out and find a place to eat something. |
| Melissa: Sì, ho proprio bisogno di riprendere le energie! |
| Marco: Yes, I really need to regain some energy! |
| Ilaria: Fuori adesso fa un po' fresco dobbiamo metterci la giacca. |
| Marco: It's a bit cool outside now; we must wear a jacket. |
| Melissa: Vero. Andiamo a fare la doccia adesso. |
| Marco: True. Let's go take a shower now. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Consuelo: Do you like swimming, Marco? |
| Marco: Oh yes, I really like "nuotare," but I never go to the swimming pool. I don't have much time. |
| Consuelo: I know what you mean. "Mi piace nuotare," meaning "I like swimming," but I find it more exciting in the sea. "Meglio al mare che in piscina." |
| Marco: "Better in the sea than in the pool," that's true. I like diving though. It's so much fun. |
| Consuelo: Wow, "complimenti!" |
| Marco: Okay, Consuelo, Italians often use this "complimenti," right? |
| Consuelo: Yes, the main translation is "congratulations," but it can also be used to replace phrases like "good job," "good effort," or "well done." |
| Marco: Now we know another word to be nice with people in Italy. "Grazie mille," Consuelo! |
| Consuelo: "Prego," Marco! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Consuelo: nuotare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to swim |
| Consuelo: nuotare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: nuotare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: allenarsi [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to train, to work out |
| Consuelo: allenarsi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: allenarsi [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: mese [natural native speed] |
| Marco: month |
| Consuelo: mese [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: mese [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: distrarsi [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to be distracted |
| Consuelo: distrarsi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: distrarsi [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: solito [natural native speed] |
| Marco: same |
| Consuelo: solito [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: solito [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: lavarsi [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to wash oneself |
| Consuelo: lavarsi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: lavarsi [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: energia [natural native speed] |
| Marco: energy |
| Consuelo: energia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: energia [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: doccia [natural native speed] |
| Marco: shower |
| Consuelo: doccia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: doccia [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Marco: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Marco: So consuelo, what expression are we studying today? |
| Consuelo: Today we're studying the expression "fare la doccia." |
| Marco: "To take/have a shower." |
| Consuelo: In English, you use different verbs for the word "doccia," meaning "shower," but in Italian we use "fare." |
| Marco: "To do" or "to make." Literally, it's "to make a shower." That sounds weird in English! |
| Consuelo: Yes, I know. Sometimes we also use the reflexive version of "fare." |
| Marco: You'll find an explanation about this later in the grammar section. |
| Consuelo: Anyway, the reflexive version of "fare" is "farsi." "Farsi la doccia." |
| Marco: And what's the difference? |
| Consuelo: I can tell there's no difference. You will hear someone say "faccio la doccia" or "mi faccio la doccia." |
| Marco: Actually, it is the same…both mean "you wash yourself." What about having a bath? How do you say it in Italian? |
| Consuelo: That is "fare il bagno" or "farsi il bagno." |
| Marco: Ah, you always use the verb "fare." |
| Consuelo: Yep! |
| Marco: This was very useful. "Grazie," Consuelo. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| Marco: In today's lesson, we are focusing on reflexive verbs. |
| Consuelo: "I verbi riflessivi." |
| Marco: A "reflexive verb" is a transitive verb whose subject acts on itself. |
| Consuelo: In order to make a verb reflexive in Italian, it is necessary to drop the "-e" of the infinitive and add the reflexive pronoun "-si." |
| Marco: As a result, a verb like "lavare," meaning "to wash," becomes "lavarsi," meaning "to wash oneself." |
| Consuelo: The object of the action is indicated by "i pronomi riflessivi," "the reflexive pronouns." |
| Marco: Okay, those reflexive pronouns are…? |
| Consuelo: "Mi," "ti," "si," "ci," "vi," and "si." |
| Marco: The verb is normally conjugated according to the tense and the six persons. |
| Consuelo: As in "Io mi alzo." |
| Marco: "I get up." Obviously, the subject "io" can be omitted. |
| Consuelo: Usually, the reflexive pronoun precedes the verb. |
| Marco: Let's see an example with the verb "sposarsi," meaning "to get married." |
| Consuelo: "Domani mi sposo." |
| Marco: "Tomorrow I get married." |
| Consuelo: When a "verbo riflessivo" is combined with modal verbs, such as "potere," "dovere," or "volere"… |
| Marco: In this case, the position of the reflexive pronoun changes. |
| Consuelo: There are two possibilities. |
| Marco: It can be attached to the reflexive verb, which has dropped the final "-e." As in… |
| Consuelo: "Domani devo sposarmi." |
| Marco: Or it can normally precede the modal verb. For example? |
| Consuelo: "Domani mi devo sposare." |
| Marco: "Tomorrow I have to get married." |
| Consuelo: When the reflexive verb indicates an action that we do to things that belong to the subject, like body parts or personal objects, the possessive adjective is not used. |
| Marco: You should say "Mi lavo i piedi." "I wash (my) feet." |
| Consuelo: Exactly. You don't need to say "miei" since the reflexive pronoun "mi" indicates you are washing your own body. |
| Marco: In the dialogue, there are four examples of reflexive verbs. |
| Consuelo: The first is "Ti alleni?" a question referring to "tu," meaning "you." |
| Marco: "Do you train?" It comes from the verb "allenarsi," meaning "to train." |
| Consuelo: The second "verbo riflessivo" is one of my favorites, "distrarsi." |
| Marco: Ah ah, "to be distracted." |
| Consuelo: Yes, Marco, but it also means "to amuse oneself." As Ilaria says in the dialogue. "Mi distraggo un pò." |
| Marco: Ah true, "I take my mind off things." |
| Consuelo: The third reflexive verb we used is one of the most common. |
| Marco: It is one of the most common because everybody does it…that's "lavarsi." |
| Consuelo: "To wash oneself." Ilaria says "Ci laviamo." |
| Marco: "We wash ourselves." |
| Consuelo: We reached the fourth and last "verbo riflessivo" of our conversation. |
| Marco: That is "mettersi," meaning "to put on" or "to wear." |
| Consuelo: In this case, it is combined with the modal verb "dovere." "Dobbiamo metterci la giacca." |
| Marco: "We must," or "have to," "wear the jacket." |
| Consuelo: Dear listeners, this does it for today's grammar section. |
| Marco: We strongly recommend reading the lesson notes for this lesson. |
| Consuelo: You'll find a list with some of the most common reflexive verbs. |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Consuelo: Listeners, can you understand Italian TV shows, movies or songs? |
| Marco: How about friends and loved ones? conversations in Italian? |
| Consuelo: If you want to know what's going on, we have a tool to help. |
| Marco: Line-by-line audio. |
| Consuelo: Listen to the lesson conversations Line-By-Line, and learn to understand natural Italian fast! |
| Marco: It's simple really. |
| Consuelo: With a click of a button, listen to each line of the conversation. |
| Marco: Listen again and again, and tune your ear to natural Italian. |
| Consuelo: Rapidly understand natural Italian with this powerful tool. |
| Marco: Find this feature on the lesson page under Premium Member resources at ItalianPod101.com. |
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